Ultrafast ytterbium-doped bulk lasers and laser amplifiers

Abstract.

We review recent achievements with ultrafast bulk lasers and amplifiers based on Yb:YAG and Yb:glass. Special attention is paid to those aspects of the quasi-three-level nature of these gain media that are important for short-pulse generation. The potential of Yb-doped media for efficient short-pulse generation and amplification is compared to their Nd-doped counterparts.